Without Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks just did not have to go toe-to-toe with the Indiana Pacers. To their credit, the Bucks pushed it all the way to Game 6, but without their cornerstone quarterback in the picture, they just did not have enough.
For his part, you can’t really fault Antetokounmpo for not being available for his team. The former back-to-back MVP did all he could to get him back to full strength but apparently, his body just was not responding the way that he had hoped.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Giannis Antetokounmpo Sheds Light on Injury Vs. Pacers
Antetokounmpo has been known throughout his career as a fast healer. He’s beaten his previous injury timelines on more than one occasion, which is why there was a lot of optimism in his return for the playoffs this year despite suffering a serious calf injury.
According to Giannis, the fact that his body refused to cooperate was one of the toughest parts of this process:
“I think that was one of the biggest struggles,” he admitted, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I was talking to my family, and I’m like, maybe before Game 6, my mind, my heart is telling me I have to play, you know, and when I wake up from my bed and I go to wash my face, my mind’s, ‘OK, I’m going to play.’ But when you get to the court, do your prep, lift you weights, and then you get on the court to shoot and run, and you run a little bit, and your body’s telling you, ‘Uh uh. You cannot play.’ I had that struggle the past week-and-a-half. My mind. My heart.
“When I’m on the court and seeing them playing and the fans, and my teammates are playing and all that and they’re talking trash and it’s going back and forth, and my mind’s telling me, ‘I can play. I can play. I want to play.’ And then your body doesn’t. That’s the first time in my career that’s ever happened to me.”
That’s tough to hear. You can clearly feel how much Giannis wanted to be out there to help his teammates, but it just wasn’t to be.
Unfortunately, he will need to live with this forever. Or at least until he’s able to redeem himself next season.
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